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Monday, April 19, 2010

I Love 16 Miles

After a pleasant evening in being a Twihard and culinary goddess, I was more than ready for my 16 miler. I woke up incredibly early to eat a breakfast that would hold me over and then...just...chilled. It was a brisk morning out, and I was determined to wait until the weather was to my liking. Not like I had big Saturday plans anyway. :p But seriously.....

Finally 11:30am hit and I was out the door in *literally* the most beautiful weather evah. Low to mid 50's. Sunny but cool and slightly breezy but not windy. Pure bliss. Since I've been focusing on my pace more than I would like to during my LRs I decided I would let this one be whatever my legs wanted it to be. No pushing. No reigning. Just finding out what my comfortable 16 mile pace is.

The first few miles were...uh....fast. I figured the worst that would happen is that I would crash and burn the latter half of the run, which is fine. Only a 16 miler, right? I took a GU at 3.5 miles and realized around this point that the water fountains were turned on. HALLELUJAH! Too bad I didn't know this before I left my place with handheld in...well...my hand...obvs. I thought about hiding it in a bush/tree, but knew how PISSED I would be if someone jacked it, so I kept holding on to it. I also took drags out of it ~every mile vs. gulp fulls every 3-4 miles like normal. That was nice knowing I didn't have to ration my water.

1. 9:23
2. 9:13
3. 9:17
4. 9:13

Around the 6 mile point I saw what appeared to be a large festival of sorts. At first I thought, oooh! A race. But then I saw a dock in the river...with no boats. And kids dressed up like cavemen. I still have no idea what was going on down there, but it sure was entertaining. At mile 8 ish I stopped to refill my water and use the facilities at a cafe at the Falls. I also took my 2nd and last GU. 5. 9:19
6. 9:24
7. 9:17
8. 9:13

I really don't remember too terribly much about the run, to be honest. It was one of those runs where you're in such a zone mentally that the minutes and miles are passing by without much thought from you. I did do a lot of race goal planning complete with pace times and what they computed out to in finish times. What can I say? Math keeps my mind occupied. Also, mile 9 was uphill and it wasn't fun.

9. 9:26
10. 9:15
11. 9:15
12. 9:14

The last 4 miles were uh...fast....as well. I kept thinking to myself, wow, if my legs feel like this on race day I will be so. stinkin'. happy. I think I will shoot for a 9:10-9:20 pace for the first 20 miles and then if I have something (dear God please ANYTHING) left in the tank for the last 10k I'll see if I can pick up the pace at all. This distance is just mind boggling to me, because I typically only race 5ks and half marathons. 5k = run as fast as you can for 22-25 minutes. Half marathon = run hard for 10 miles than run as fast as you can for 25 minutes. Marathon = don't die. Have fun strategizing that one. I guess you just don't know how your body is going to respond, especially on your first one. Definitely fun to imagine it on your LRs though. 13. 9:09
14. 9:20
15. 9:17
16. 8:26

I finished the 16 miles in 2:27:48 for a pace of 9:15. Yeah, 16 miles is *easily* my new fave long run distance. Enough to kick some butt, but doesn't psych me out mentally. Conveniently my other fave training run distance is 10 miles. I won't be running a marathon in less than a month (EEK!) I'll be rocking a 16 miler and a 10 miler. And perhaps tack on a little .2 just for s&g.

When I got home I was shocked at how salty I was. I will be honest (and have been many times before) I am a sweaty sweaty girl. Sweat is sexy, whatever. I am also a very salty runner. Case in point, when I first started running, could not understand why I would crave dominoes cheesy bread, green olives, tortilla chips, etc. the Mondays after my LRs. Well now looking back on that, uh duh. Whenever I'm done running I always wash my face before I stretch because it hurts from all the salt built up on it. Usually, however, I can only feel it's crusty awesomeness, but Saturday, I could see it in all its glory. Of course I decided to document this for you all to be disgusted by as well.

Also, I just recently realized (like Saturday) that I have a very pointy nose. Please no mean comments. :(

Be impressed, unlike my face which is sooooo over the salt. :p

And apparently the flash is too potent for you to see the salt patches on my neck, but they're pretty nast there as well.

Also wanted to show you how I've even managed to get little tan lines from the slats (slats?) of my Garmin. That's impressive kids. [Also check out my sweet ink!]

And the obligatory post LR garmin tan line shot with Polly Sunshine as a backdrop.

13 comments:

Yeah for flowing drinking fountains! Ours still aren't on in my town ... grrrrr .... I'm with ya on the saltyness too. I swear it's like I sprinkled my self in my own version of pixie dust or something, after a long run. Disgusting and it burns my eyes. BTW, love that you documented this!!

16 miles is definitely a popular LR distance - just the right mix of not-too-long + accomplished-feeling afterward! :) breaking down the marathon into those distnaces is a good idea! .2 for s/g, you don't do that with every run? whaa?

I finally had to yell at my Teammates because I'd leave our long runs with white death all over my face, get home, realize what a tool I look like, and then wonder why the heck no one mentioned it! Now they tell me. :)

Way to go on your 16 miles! It was my new favorite, too. But 18 was even more fun. Just throwing it out there!

I laughed at loud with your "Marathon=Don't Die" comment!! Total agreement. I am so excited for your race. I, too, liked the 16 miles and am a big fan of 8 and 10. I guess I like even numbers? Maybe that's why the 13.1 doesn't settle with me, but I gotta deal. P.S. What flavor ice cream?? I've become addicted again with all my running.